He went on to work for Pixar!Īfter 44 years since was written the song is still played in all gay events around the world. Remember ‘Alien Song’ from 1998? Victor Navone’s CGI video was a huge viral hit before viral hits were a thing. Among the (many) covers include Aretha Franklin, Cake (a gender reversal), Chantay Savage, Diana Ross, Leah McFall, Gladys Knight.įun fact: It was also one of the first memes on the internet. The song was covered by numerous artists during the time. Musicologist Nadine Hubbs wrote that people in the LGBT community have said they identify with ‘I Will Survive’ because the “textual message of defiant and enduring presence was already well-tailored to queer identification needs, but this message and the song’s titular statement took on even deeper meaning with the dawn of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s”. The song is often referred to as a ‘gay anthem’ because of this. It is mostly attributed to the lack of acceptance of LGBT individuals, especially when the song was released in 1979. The song had a particularly huge influence within the LGBT community. In 2016, the Library of Congress deemed Gaynor’s recording to be “culturally, historically or artistically significant” and selected it for preservation in the National Recording Registry. It finished second in 2014 on a list in Rolling Stone of the Best Disco Songs. Twenty years later, it topped a list on VH1 of the 100 Greatest Dance Songs. In 1980, it earned the singer her first Grammy: Best Disco Recording. Polydor eventually released the single with the sides flipped, and ‘I Will Survive’ became an international hit, reaching number one in both the UK and US.

Gaynor then agreed to record ‘I Will Survive’ as the B-side. This ended up being Gloria Gaynor, whose record company called Perren looking for production on a song called ‘Substitute’, a song originally by the Righteous Brothers. They agreed that the next diva that found them would get the song. When Perren and Fekaris wrote ‘I Will Survive’, they didn’t have anyone to sing it. It’s a timeless lyric that addresses a timeless concern.” Gloria Gaynor herself once said: “I love the empowering effect, I love the encouraging effect. It has since taken on other meanings for people who have overcome any difficult situation. The song is a female-empowerment anthem and is about moving on after a bad relationship. He was also part of Motown’s The Corporation, who wrote classics including ‘I Want You Back’ and ‘ABC’ by The Jackson 5.

Perren also wrote disco favorites’ Boogie Fever’ by The Sylvers and ‘Shake Your Groove Thing’ by Peaches & Herb. Fekaris also wrote other songs for Gloria Gaynor, but this was his only huge success as a writer.

We will survive by gloria gaynor